Caning (sp?)

[Doug Donnell]

Folks, before he passed, my Grandfather gave my wife an antique bench that had a caned seat. Like many antiques I have seen, someone tried to use it as a stool (my Grandfather perhaps?), and stepped through the caning. A family member was going to have it recaned for my wife in the Jackson, MS area, but has not had any luck finding someone who still does caning.

I would like to get it recaned for her. We live in the Atlanta area (NE of Atlanta in northern Gwinnett County), and I was wondering if anyone knows a caner in the area. I believe the bench is a traditional seat configuration, in that individual holes are used for the caning. I want to avoid the pre-woven stuff if I can help it, as I think most of those products require a groove be routed into the seat.

Any ideas? All suggestions appreciated.

Doug

[Mike Henderson]

You can re-cane it yourself - it's not hard but it takes patience, care, and time. There are books available that tell you how. Check Amazon. As I recall, they weren't expensive (I have a couple of books on how to cane).

Mike

[Kent A Bathurst]

I know of a person. Well I personally don't know, but SWMBO knows - and last communication from her was a photo with her standing on some dock with 8 Lake Michigan lake trout and coho beside her. <insert jealous smilie here>

We have a dining room chair that needs it also. She told me that she knows of a woman from north of Atlanta somewhere, that comes to the city every so often and picks up pieces to do.

Send me an email [click on my name] as a reminder, and I'll get back to you when she gets home in a few days.

[David Thompson 27577]

{You're looking for a caner, and...............}..........We live in the Atlanta area (NE of Atlanta in northern Gwinnett County), and I was wondering if anyone knows a caner in the area. .............................
Doug

Perhaps this is a bit of a distance but........

North of you, in the western end of North Carolina, is the John Campbell Folk School (https://www.folkschool.org/) . A number of years ago, my mother-in-law had a great time -- took two chairs, spent a week there -- and came home with both chairs newly caned. And she did it herself.

[Bill White]

Doug, check around with the Atl. area antique dealers. Or if ya can, go to the Scott's monthly antique show down by the airport. You can do that caning yourself without too much trouble, but the materials might cost as much as finding a caner. You would need the correct sized cane, pegs for holding the cane, glycerine to help keep the moistened cane soft, lots of patience, and maybe a bottle of good scotch (speed deterrent).
Bill

[Doug Donnell]

Humm, Michigan trout and Scotch suggestions... this is perhaps the most productive string I have ever started...

Scott's is actually a good idea, my wife and I go every 3-4 months. However, I think the idea of doing it myself carries the potential for frustrated violence perpetrated upon said bench by yours truely. That would be... counter productive. There is also a time and priority component... I am sitting the the Minneapolis airport in the Delta Sky Club waiting on a delayed flight back home, only to leave for NYC tomorrow afternoon. At this point I may make it home by 1:30 or 2:00 this morning.

Not that my travel adventures have anything to do with caning, but if I tried to do this project I suspect it would take forever (my wife's bulter pantry cabinets still sit in my shop, absorbing virtually every square inch of floor space, lacking doors and not having been worked on in weeks, almost a year in progress).

Kent, I will email you, thanks. If I am slow to respond it is due to travel, but I will get around to it!

DD

[Alan Schwabacher]

It's not very hard to do yourself, though it can be time consuming. I've done it only for canoe seats.

H H Perkins sells all the caning supplies. http://www.hhperkins.com (http://www.hhperkins.com/hhperkins/servlet/catalog?action=getcat&parent=8)

[/URL] Here are a couple descriptions of the process of weaving a cane seat:
http://www.aces.uiuc.edu/vista/html_pubs/weave/weave.html (http://www.ag.uiuc.edu/%7Evista/html_pubs/weave/weave.html)
[url]http://krypton.mnsu.edu/~wayne/Caning/ChairCaning.htm

There are books available describing various patterns so you can match what was there.

[Bill ThompsonNM]

Hmm, an order from H H Perkins and you're wife has a new hobby! ;)